Leather-drying apparatus



Patented'lune |3, I899.

N O. 626,92I.

' W. A, MGMANUS.

LEATHER DRYING APPARATUS.

(Annlication filed Jami. 20, 1899') 3 ShoetsSheat I.

' (J10 Model.)

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No. 626,92l. v Patented lune l3, I899.

' W. A.' McMANUS.

' LEATHER DRYING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Jan. 20, 1889.) (No Model.) 3 Sheeta-Sheet 2.

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WITNESSES: mvEN om BY 1 ATTY'S.

No. 626,9.2L Pa tented June [3, I899. W. A. MGMANUS.

LEATHER DRYING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Jan. 20, 1899,)

3 Sheets-Shoot a.

(No Model) INVENTOR WITNESSES:

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U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

XVILLIAM A. MOMANUS, OF WEST ORANGE, NEl/V JERSEY.

LEATHER-DRYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,921, dated June 13, 1899. Application filed January 20, 1899. Serial No. 702,835. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. McMANUs, a citizen of the United States, residing at West Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Means for Drying Daub-Coats in the Manufacture of Patent-Leather; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The objects of this invention are to secure a more perfectly finished article, to facilitate the process of producing the same, to reduce the cost of coating the leather, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved method of man ufacturin gpatent-leather from steer, cow, and bull hides and in the means employed in effecting such process, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the improved d rying-cham ber, certain of the front doors of which are removed to show'more clearly variations of construction. Fig. 2 is a central, horizontal, and longitudinal section of the device. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken at line y,and Fig.4 is a vertical section taken at linear.

In said drawings, a indicates the dryingchamber, and b the frames arranged therein, to which the leather 0 is applied and stretched in any ordinary manner. Cleats or stays at are employed to hold the frames in position. A fan-wheel e, preferably an exhaust-fan, is employed at one end of the chamber to induce a current of air through the chamber, and at the opposite end a heater f is arranged to raise the temperature of the air on damp days or when the atmosphere contains a high percentage of moisture.

The ordinary method of manufacturing patent-leather from steer, cow, and bull hides has heretofore been substantially as follows: The hides after the tanning process and when in the dry or russet state are tacked on large frames 1), generally of a size nine feet wide by ten feet long, more orless. Upon the hides 0 thus dried and stretched upon the frames is first applied a coat of daub. This serves as a filler for the leather and is immediately smoothed off by means of a suitable steel slicker or tool, and the stretched hide thus filled is put out in the sun and air to dry, The daub referred to is a product of boiled linseed-oil and lampblack reduced to the desired consistency and afterward rendered more fluid, so as to be properly applicable to the hide by means of a solvent or diluent, usually consisting of naphtha; but other diluents,such as turpentine,are used; but naphtha is almost universally employed because of its cheapness and other advantages.

As before indicated, the daubed leather has heretofore been almost universally placed in the open air for drying Attempts have sometimes been made to dry by means of artificial heat; but the means and methods employed have been such as to, bake the daub and render the same extremely fragile, so that the leather in use is easily cracked and of little value.

While the outside open-air drying has been practically more effective than any artificial method attempted, it has its disadvantages in that the drying operation must be stopped in Wet weather, and on windy days the da'ubcoat being moist when put in the air permits an adhesion of the flying dirt and grit, and thus requires after drying a special operation of pumicing or stoning to remove the 'said' dirt and grit.

warrant. Said compartments a are preferably in regular series and are open at the I fronts to a passage-way common to all said compartments to permit the insertion of the frames, the compartments ordinarily being in plan nine by twelve by twelve to receive the usual nine by ten frames. The said compartments a communicate with one another,

so as to allow a free transmission of air' through the chamber as a whole, and the walls of said compartments are preferably provided with horizontal transverse cleats cl l ments from the open fronts, the front open-' ing thus being the full or nearly the full size of the compartment and the cleats projecting inward beyond the boundary walls of the openings. Said frames may, however, be arranged in vertical positions, standing on their lower edges, as indicated at the center compartment of Figs. 1 and 2. In this latter case short blocks or stays are employed rather than long cleats or slideways. Said front openings for the frames are closed by doors 9 g, hinged to the upright door-posts h h in any suitable manner. In either case the cleats or stays are arranged to hold the leathercarrying frames edgewise in the direction of the forced air-current, so that the latter will act uniformly on the whole surface of the daubed leather.

At one end of the series of drying-com partments is arranged the suction or exhaust wheel or fan e, by which the air is drawn through the succession of compartments and between the frames and leathers arranged therein. I-prefer to build a small chamber (L2 at the end of the series of compartments having the exhaust fan or wheel of suffi'cient capacity to receive power-transmitting belts and connections with the fan and to permit the workmen to freely gain access to the operating parts for the purposes of repair, lubrication, or other purposes. This chamber is closed at the front by the door g, but is in open communication with the compartment a. At the opposite end of the series of compartments I prefer to form a heating-chamber of, which contains a stack of heatingpipes or radiators 713, by means of which the infiowing air may be heated preliminary to its passage over the leather, especially in wet weather. These heating-pipes or radiators 70 may be of any ordinary construction and may be supplied with heat through the medium of steam, hot air, hot water, or the like. The air is not heated to a degree above 100 Fahrenheit, and ordinarily and normally the air is not heated at all. The process by which I secure the best result and to which Iespecially lay claim is the subjection of the daubed and stretched leather to a forced current of air at normal temperature.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is-' l. The chamber for patent-leather drying comprising a series of compartments each in open communication, one with thosenext in the series and each having stays or cleats to receive and hold theleather-stretching frames separately and apart and edgewise in line with the direction of draft, said comparments being each open at the front to receive the leather-stretching frames and having doors g, g, at the front openings, and a fan or wheel for forcing an air-current through the series of compartments, substantially as set forth.

2. The drying-chamber for patent-leather comprising a series of compartments each in open communication with those next in the series, and with a passage-way at the front, doors for closing the openings to said passageway, end chambers a a at the opposite ends of the series, one having an exhaust-fan and driving means therein and the other heatingpipes for occasional use, and each of said chambers being open to the said passage-way, the compartments having leather-stretching frames therein, removable through the front openings to the passage, and cleats or stays holding said frames apart from one another and edgewise in the direction of the air-current through the series of compartments, su bstantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of January, 1899.

WILLIAM A. MCMAN US.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, RUSSELL M. EVERETT. 

